﻿SEO copywriting is a challenging craft because you need to create content that's easy for search
engines to read and understand.
But that exact same content needs to be appealing to human users too.
Now, search engines and people that use search engines don't need to be looked at
as mutually exclusive.
There are ways you can satisfy both while writing in a very natural and organic way.
And that's what we'll be talking about in this SEO copywriting tutorial.
In fact, I'll actually do the steps with you for a hypothetical example to give you
a better idea of what SEO copywriting looks like in action from a workflow standpoint.
So to paint a scenario for this tutorial, let's say that our company sells sleep-related
products and the topic for the page we'll be creating content on is "how to get better sleep."
Alright, so we're going to tackle this copywriting tutorial in three stages.
The first stage is all about research.
And the steps we take in this stage are going to set us up for ranking success.
Now, the first and arguably most important part of this research phase is to check
search intent for your target query.
Search intent represents the reason behind a searcher's query.
And Google actually gives us clues into searcher intent right within the search results page.
For example, if you search for "slow cooker" in Google, the search results are mostly made
up of shopping ads and product pages.
It's basically telling us as creators that in order to rank high for this query, we'd also
need to have a page that's transactional and commercial in nature - like a product page.
Now, change your search to "slow cooker recipes," and you'll see that all top-ranking pages are blog
posts that show lists of slow cooker recipes.
The search results are informational and in order to rank for this query, we'd need something similar
because that's what searchers want.
So because our target query for our example page is "how to get better sleep," I'll start by
searching for that on Google.
Now, if you look at the top results, you'll see that nearly all pages are listicles with tips to
get better sleep - not step-by-step guides or tutorials like the query might suggest.
So that's the content format and angle we'd want to run with too.
The second part of the research phase is to create a thorough outline based on data.
Now, with SEO content writing, your goal is to get your page to the top of Google
search for your target query.
So naturally, the best place to actually start building your outline is to look for similarities
among the top-ranking pages.
After all, they've made it to the top of Google most likely because their pages are satisfying users.
Now, looking at the top articles on how to get better sleep, you'll notice that they all talk
about how alcohol can negatively impact your sleep, how a sleep schedule or routine can help,
and to reduce naps to get better sleep.
These are foundational sleep tips so let's take note of these things and we can include
our own take on these tips in our post.
Now, if we go back to the search results page, you'll also see that there's a People Also Ask
box that shows related questions.
This one on getting 8 hours of sleep seems interesting because it's what many people
searching for this topic would aim to achieve.
Also, this one on the causes of lack of sleep would probably be good information to add
to our post too.
The last thing I'll do is check for common keyword rankings among the top-ranking pages.
And the reason why I'm going to do this is because it often reveals insights about
what your target audience is looking for, the language they use in search, and the topics
that Google considers to be closely related.
To do this, I'll use Ahrefs' Content Gap tool.
And all I've done here is put the URLs of the top-ranking pages for my target
query in the top section.
And if we run the search, we can see all keywords that these pages rank for
and their ranking positions.
So based on the results, you'll see that people are using language like getting a "good night's sleep."
They want to get more "deep sleep."
Then there's a keyword here which gives me the idea to include information on
the recommended hours of sleep by age.
Finally, this one on sleep schedules affirms that we should definitely include a tip on that
in our post.
Now, before we continue, it's important we talk about copycat content.
SEO copywriting is not about copying information from top-ranking pages.
What we're doing at this stage is extracting potentially important subtopics and industry
jargon that may be required to cover a topic in full.
Think about it like this:
If Google's job is to show the most relevant results for any given query, then that means
the top 3 results are the most relevant pages for that query – at least in Google's eyes.
And because Google has spent billions, maybe even trillions of dollars to get
their search algorithms to where they are today, their non-human ways of understanding user
satisfaction are probably better than our human ways in most cases.
So look at this analysis as a way to understand how you can best serve visitors to your page.
Alright, we're done with the research phase so let's move on to the next part
of the SEO copywriting process which is the drafting phase.
Now, while writing styles will vary a lot, content writers all have the same goals:
to educate, entertain, and/or delight our readers while ideally leading them closer
to a conversion goal.
So with that said, I'll give you a few copywriting tips you can use for different sections of your
content, starting with the intro.
As cliche as it might sound, having an intro that pulls in your readers is critical because
it tells them they're in the right place and that they should continue reading.
A simple, yet effective method you can use is the PAS formula.
This is where you point out a problem, agitate it, and then offer a solution.
So for our hypothetical article on how to get better sleep, I might say…
"Everyone wants to sleep better, but unfortunately, you can't just "will" yourself to a good night's rest.
Beyond feeling groggy, research shows that the absence of quality sleep can
lead to weight gain and negatively impact your daily brain function.
Fortunately, many physicians have found that people who follow sleep
schedules are 98% more likely to feel "at their best" throughout their days.
So today, I'll share 7 evidence-based sleep tips to help you build your sleep routine and
consistently get 8-hours of sleep every night."
Now, as for the body of the content, this is when your outline that you made in
the research stage is going to be clutch.
For landing page copy, the body is where you'll sell your products by showcasing features and
use cases.
And for blog content it's where you'll resolve the reason for a visit which can help build trust
with your audience.
The purpose of the body is to provide immense amounts of value.
You're basically delivering on your headline and you want to give it your all.
Now, because we're in the drafting phase, I wouldn't worry so much about having perfectly
optimized content because we'll be handling that stuff in the next phase which we'll get to
in a bit.
The final piece of the content is the conclusion.
And this is where you'll wrap things up and direct visitors to a destination.
For example, on a landing page, that might be to a sales or checkout page.
And for a blog post, that might be a recommendation to read another
blog article, watch a video, or to go to a sales page.
The main thing I want to communicate with the conclusion is that you shouldn't
leave them at a dead end.
For example, in our hypothetical "how to get better sleep" article,
the main point of my content might be to set good sleep habits to build a proper sleep schedule.
Now, as a business, I probably want to send these readers to some of our product pages, but it's not
exactly organic to recommend them here.
So instead, I can actually try and point readers to other informational content
that's related to getting better sleep and recommends our sleep-related products.
For example, my conclusion might say:
"Building great sleep habits is an essential part of getting good sleep consistently.
However, it's also critical that you're using the right pillow as the wrong one can cause
neck tension that no sleep schedule can fix.
Read our review on the 15 best pillows to help you get better quality sleep."
And of course, that best pillows guide would have links to our products.
Alright, now once you've finished the draft, it's time to move on to the final stage which
is editing.
Now, many people overlook this stage and just do a final read through to check for typos.
But editing is just as important as drafting.
It's where you ensure your messaging is right, that all your on-page SEO optimizations have
been done correctly, and where you'll ensure the content flows smoothly.
Basically, you want to make it easy for people to consume your content.
A simple process you can follow is the… ASMR method.
The A stands for annotations.
These are good to add within your content to make certain parts standout.
For example, we use side notes to bring notice to an important point without
breaking the flow of the content.
The S stands for short sentences and paragraphs.
This helps improve readability and digestibility.
When editing, look for instances where you used transitional words like "and,"
"because," and "that," and consider breaking them into shorter sentences.
The M stands for multimedia.
Consider adding videos, images, and gifs to help illustrate your points without having
to add extra words.
And R stands for read.
Make sure you actually read your copy out loud to pinpoint areas where your
content may not flow smoothly.
In addition to these checks, consider simplifying the complexity of your content.
That means using simpler language when possible and removing industry jargon
when it's not absolutely critical.
There are tools like the Hemingway app which you can use to get a graded score.
As a general rule of thumb, aim for a sixth to eighth grade reading level.
Now, you might feel like you haven't really done much so-called "SEO copywriting."
And that's because the copy you write for search and humans doesn't have to be all that different.
Google has evolved quite a lot compared to the days when you had to include exact
match keywords in order to rank for them.
Those days for the most part are over.
The outline we created in the first stage where we analyzed competing pages was
a big part of the SEO copywriting process.
We found subtopics and key phrases that people use to search for a topic.
In much the same way, Google analyzes "entities" to ​​categorize information and
understand relationships.
Now, in addition to our research, drafting, and editing stages, we still practice on-page SEO
best practices and you probably should too.
If you want to learn more, watch our full tutorial on the on-page SEO checklist we
use which I'll link up in the description.
I'll see you in the next tutorial.